Feeling Minnesota

Kyle and Lane Carlson, known as the Carlson boys, are the identical twins from Stillwater, Minnesota, who grace the cover of the spring-break issue of Abercrombie & Fitch's A & F Quarterly. In the photo, the brothers are perched together on a Vespa, naked. Kyle, a rugby player, and Lane, a baseball player and onetime wrestler, are seniors at Winona State University, in Winona, Minnesota. They are handsome, well built, and clean-cut. They hope, eventually, to take over their father's construction company.

The A & F Quarterly is a magalogue that features--besides images of merchandise and interviews with offbeat celebrities--dewy Bruce Weber photographs of similarly handsome, well-built, clean-cut men and women, prancing around swimming pools and kitchens, naked or nearly so. It's part Cosmo, part Blue Boy. In the most recent issue, entitled “XXX,” Kyle and Lane can be seen on page 16, standing side by side, shirtless, with their shorts around their ankles and red boxers around their hips--a strange outfit if you really think about it. On pages 64 and 65, they swim naked in a lake; on page 66, they walk from the lake into a field; on page 69, still naked, they stand in the field, impervious to the tall grass. In another spread, they gallivant without their clothing, poolside, with two topless female models and five barely clothed men. And, in the magalogue's final pages, their clothes are removed by a group of eight girls. There is a theme there, somewhere.

On a recent Thursday night, Kyle and Lane were in the meatpacking district to celebrate the launch of “XXX.” The twins were posing for photographers and a throng of partygoers in the foyer of APT, a new club on West Thirteenth Street, in front of a giant reproduction of their cover. Lane was wearing a classic-fit, vintage Abercrombie Wash Wilkinson striped polo shirt ($34.50). Kyle had on a fitted, vintage Abercrombie Wash Flatt's Village shirt ($44.50). Naturally, in the interest of verisimilitude the crowd wanted these garments removed. “Take it off, brothers!” a woman shouted. Others joined in the chant. The twins smiled and obliged, stripping to the waist. A tall middle-aged man with white hair called out, “Money shot! Money shot! Money shot!”

Moments later, with their shirts back on, Kyle and Lane hung around the foyer, greeting the guests. The two of them were drinking Captain and Cokes (spiced rum and Cola) through straws. They had no idea who any of these people were. “The only one I recognized was Stephen Baldwin,” Lane told a handler. “But I didn't get to meet him. I looked at him.”

“There were a lot of socialites,” the handler said.

Kyle and Lane's parents, Rick and Judy Carlson, walked into the club. Then Bruce Weber himself arrived and gave the twins big hugs. The parents introduced themselves. “It's nice to finally meet you,” said Weber, who was wearing his customary do-rag. He asked them when they'd arrived from Minnesota.

“Just today,” Mr. Carlson said.

“We went from thirty below to fifty above,” said Mrs. Carlson, who works as a nurse's assistant.

After Weber moved on, Kyle and Lane talked about their modelling careers, about how they were discovered in a mall, and about how they have also posed for L'Uomo Vogue. Kyle pronounced Uomo as “homo.”

Posing naked for Bruce Weber had come naturally to them. “I've been in the locker room with guys all the time-- it's no big deal,” Lane said. “All of our friends at school are really proud of our accomplishments. Our girlfriends, too.”

Kyle added, “Everybody is mature about it. This is a mature crowd. We're in college.”

“We're still the same guys,” Lane said. “We are still Lane and Kyle.”

Kyle was concerned that his name be spelled correctly. “It's K-Y-L-E,” he said. “K-Y-L-E. K-Y-L-E.”

The Carlson parents stood off to the side, careful not to interfere. They were not wearing anything by Abercrombie & Fitch. Rick Carlson had on a gray checked sports coat; Judy Carlson wore a black top and black pants. Mr. Carlson explained that he had researched Bruce Weber on the Internet after learning that he was the one who would be taking the photographs of his two boys. “I don't think it's all that racy,” he said. “I'm glad they hooked up with him.” He took a look at his boys in front of the popping flashbulbs. “They're good guys,” he said. “As long as they've got good morals.”

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